Bottom Line: After strike-related delays, comic books arrive

Two weeks after its scheduled release, customers at local comic book stores such as Pulp Fiction in Long Beach on Thursday finally got their hands on the anticipated "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret History of the Foot Clan No. 1."

The book was among several IDW Publishing titles that were supposed to be released Dec. 19 and Dec. 26, but the clerical workers strike at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles delayed the comic book titles until this month.

In late November, more than two years of talks crumbled between International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit, the union representing more than 600 clerical workers at both ports, and their employers, the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Association, which represents shipping agencies and terminal operators in Southern California.

It led to a major shutdown of the nation's busiest seaport complex for the first time in a decade. The strike, which longshore workers also honored, lasted from Nov. 27 to Dec. 4, effectively closing 10 of 14 terminals and slowing to a crawl the delivery of goods to destinations east. It stranded ships in the water and at the ports and forced some ships to divert to other ports.

More than 60 percent of goods from outside Southern California flow through the twin ports and those goods include most everything from car parts and electronics to produce, apparel and yes, comic books.

And because the holiday schedule of IDW's global distributor, Diamond Comic Distributors, didn't allow for books to be shipped from overseas in the last week of December, books couldn't be shipped to retailers and readers before year's end.

In a recent statement, IDW's CEO and Publisher Ted Adams expressed frustration about not being able to get books to fans and retailers.

"It's frustrating to have circumstances be out of our control," he said.

"Fortunately, however, we're still left with a very strong slate of titles to finish out 2012 and lots of great books for everyone to enjoy in the New Year."